Daniel 6: The God of Daniel Is Your God Too

Introduction

This message was given on the last day of the special "Daniel" dawn prayer meeting at Full Gospel Tokyo Church, at the end of twenty-one days of prayer. The preacher begins by thanking the Holy Spirit for leading those twenty-one days, and prays that everyone would receive the strength to keep praying, without backing down, until the answer comes.

The text is Daniel 6, the well-known story of Daniel in the lions' den. The preacher follows the account verse by verse. He pauses on Daniel's faithful prayer, on King Darius's astonishing confession, and on God's deliverance. His conviction fits in one sentence: "The God of Daniel is our God."

The message ends in Romans 8: nothing can separate us from the love of God. According to the closing prayer, this morning's message was titled "The Love of God."

Outline of the Message

1. A Faithful Man in the Midst of Jealousy

• Daniel found favor with Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon. Then, when the Medes and the Persians swallowed up Babylon, he found favor with Darius as well.
• The preacher reminds us that Daniel was by then over ninety years old. The kingdom was divided among one hundred twenty satraps, with three chiefs over them. Daniel, a man taken into exile, was chosen as one of the three.
• For the Persians, seeing a foreigner in that position already stirred up a great deal of jealousy and resentment. And the king was even thinking of setting him over the whole kingdom.
• This is the climate in which today's text begins.

2. A Decree to Bring Daniel Down

• The chiefs and satraps ask the king for a decree: for thirty days, anyone who makes a petition to any god or man, except the king, will be thrown into the lions' den (Daniel 6:7).
• At that time, a law decided by the king and sealed with his ring was hard to revoke, even by the king himself. The preacher stresses the immense power behind this order.
• The king signs gladly, without thinking about what it says. In reality, it is a plot. Its authors knew that, whatever the situation, Daniel would worship his God.

3. Praying as Before, with Windows Open

• Daniel knows this decree is a trap set for him. Yet he goes home. Verse 10 says: "When Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went into his house (now his windows were open in his room toward Jerusalem); and he kneeled upon his knees three times a day, and prayed, and gave thanks before his God, as he did before."
• "His situation was by no means one that calls for thanksgiving. Yet, as was his habit, he bowed his knees before God and prayed."
• "Humanly speaking, you would think he had no need to open his window." Daniel, for his part, changed nothing and kept bringing his prayer to the Lord.
• The king realizes too late that he has been tricked: the decree is already sealed. He might have been able to go back on his decision, but the authority of all his future decisions and orders would have been weakened.

4. The Confession of a Foreign King

• The accusers get Daniel thrown into the lions' den. But, the preacher notes, something astonishing happens in Darius. This Persian king had neither the tradition nor the faith of the Jews. Yet, through Daniel, he comes to know God and confesses him.
• In verse 16, the king says to Daniel: "Your God whom you serve continually, he will deliver you." The preacher insists: "That is not Daniel's word. It is Darius's confession, and we need to notice it."
• During the seventy years of captivity, Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, had come to acknowledge God. And now Darius, king of the Medes and Persians, receives the grace of acknowledging God as well.
• The preacher prays that, around the members of the church, people would come to believe in God.

5. A Sleepless Night and a Voice from the Den

• Daniel is thrown into the den, and the entrance is closed with a stone. The king spends the night fasting (Daniel 6:18) and, the preacher adds, without touching wine, hoping that Daniel is safe. "My prayer can have a great influence, even on those who do not believe."
• The king cannot sleep. In anguish, he goes to the den at the crack of dawn. A man over ninety years old thrown in among lions: humanly speaking, he has no chance of surviving. The king goes there torn between faith and doubt.
• He calls out: "Daniel, servant of the living God, is your God, whom you serve continually, able to deliver you from the lions?" (Daniel 6:20).
• Then a voice answers from the bottom of the den: "O king, live forever" (Daniel 6:21). As if nothing had happened, Daniel still shows the king all the respect due to him.

6. The God of Daniel Is Our God

• Daniel declares: "My God has sent his angel, and has shut the lions' mouths, and they have not hurt me, because as before him innocence was found in me; and also before you, O king, have I done no harm" (Daniel 6:22).
• The preacher points out that Daniel did not beg the king to save him. He submitted to the law as it stood, and he went into the den without doubting for a moment.
• "The God of Daniel is our God. The God Daniel prayed to, the God he leaned on, is our God."
• He quotes Psalm 91: "For he will put his angels in charge of you, to guard you in all your ways. They will bear you up in their hands, so that you won't dash your foot against a stone." A word spoken, he says, to this king who believed in Daniel's God while still holding on to a measure of doubt.
• The king, filled with joy, has Daniel taken out, and no wound is found on him, "because he had trusted in his God" (Daniel 6:23). Those who had accused him are thrown into the den in their turn, along with their families.

7. Seeing God Through a Faith That Does Not Waver

• Darius issues a decree: that throughout his kingdom people tremble and fear before the God of Daniel, "for he is the living God, and steadfast forever, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed ... He delivers and rescues" (Daniel 6:26-27). The king's joy shows in these words.
• "The king had never seen God, but he saw him through Daniel." In the same way, in the face of persecution or evil, a faith that does not waver lets the people around us see God through us.
• The preacher takes up Paul's words: pressed on every side, yet not crushed; pursued, yet not forsaken; struck down, yet not destroyed (2 Corinthians 4:8-9). This faith is given to us.
• He prays: "May the God who delivered Daniel from the lions' den deliver you too." And he urges everyone to keep praying, without being discouraged and without growing weary, until the answer comes.
• He concludes with Romans 8:31-35: if God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son, how will he not also give us all things with him? Whatever the tribulation or the suffering, nothing can separate us from the love of God shown in Christ.

Key Takeaways

• Daniel prayed as before, even when prayer had become dangerous. His faithfulness did not depend on circumstances.
• A foreign king confessed the God of Daniel. God makes himself known to others through the lives of those who serve him with perseverance.
• Your prayer has influence, even on people who do not yet believe.
• The God who shut the lions' mouths is our God. He can still deliver.
• Nothing can separate you from the love of God in Christ. That is why you can keep praying until the answer comes.

Personal Application

1. Does your prayer life change with circumstances, or do you keep praying "as before" when the pressure rises?
2. In what situation are you tempted to close your window, that is, to hide your faith to avoid trouble?
3. Who around you might see God through the way you go through hardship?
4. For what request have you stopped praying before receiving the answer? Are you ready to take it up again today?
5. What "lions' den" are you going through right now, and what difference does it make to know that nothing can separate you from the love of God?

Verses Cited

• Daniel 6
• Daniel 6:7
• Daniel 6:10
• Daniel 6:16-23
• Daniel 6:26-27
• Psalm 91:11-12
• 2 Corinthians 4:8-9
• Romans 8:31-35

Frequently Asked Questions

Why did Daniel pray with his windows open when the decree forbade it?

Daniel knew the decree was a trap set for him. Humanly speaking, nothing forced him to open his window. But he kept praying three times a day, on his knees, and giving thanks to his God, as he had done before (Daniel 6:10). His prayer did not depend on circumstances.

Who says "Your God whom you serve continually, he will deliver you" in Daniel 6?

It is not Daniel, it is King Darius (Daniel 6:16). The preacher stresses that a Persian king, a stranger to the faith of Israel, comes to confess the God of Daniel. He had never seen God, but he saw him through Daniel's life.

What is the connection between Daniel 6 and Romans 8 in this message?

The message ends with Romans 8:31-35. The God who delivered Daniel from the lions' den is the same God who promises that nothing, neither tribulation, nor distress, nor persecution, can separate us from the love of Christ. That is why you can keep praying until the answer comes.